Hi there,I've been riding my hart-tail for almost a year, trying to do some jumping, trailing and whatnot. But I think soon it will be time to upgrade. I'm trying to decide what's the next step, a freeride bike or a downhill one. Any thoughts? CheersGabriel

yeah, budget is not too big In the case of a downhill bike it would have to be second hand. I'm pretty sure I won't race soon. Just looking for fun and to get more skills. I suppose that sounds more like a freeride bike Cheers

Depends on what type of riding uyou want to do, where you are going to ride etc. To be honest if your not sure what you need either stick with what you have until you are, or get a general purpose 5/6" trailbike that will do a bit of everything until you find a dicipline that you really like. Neither downhill nor "freeride" bikes are particularly versatile. You'll get more for your money with a trail bike as the bigger rigs will either have to be the cheaper end ones or Second hand and secondhand freeride/DH bikes I'd be wary of unless your really know what your buying and how to check they've not had a hard life.

I've been hitting different tracks (4X, dirt jumps and some grade 3~4 downhill) with my STP. The downhill is a little tough on a hardtail, but I've managed to enjoy it. What I'm really looking forward is to be able to do bigger jumps and drops (I'm kinda a wuss with big drops!). Then if I upgrade, I still would like to ride similar tracks. I'm definitely moving towards downhill, I'm just not sure if the next step is a fully DH bike

gabreu wrote:I've been hitting different tracks (4X, dirt jumps and some grade 3~4 downhill) with my STP. The downhill is a little tough on a hardtail, but I've managed to enjoy it. What I'm really looking forward is to be able to do bigger jumps and drops (I'm kinda a wuss with big drops!). Then if I upgrade, I still would like to ride similar tracks. I'm definitely moving towards downhill, I'm just not sure if the next step is a fully DH bike

There are some decend deals around at the mo on run out models - I know Bike barn we're running a 50% off offer at one point recently - I'd try and abuy a DH rig new if you can, they tend to get pretty thrashed so second hand might look like a good option but only if you know what your buying and have a reasonally level of DIY skills on sorting stuff out. The other option of course is buy a cheap second hand beater and see if its what your after before dropping more coin on one. You can pick up older stinkys and glorys and stuff for F - all money these days - remember to haggle, there is a recession on so its a buyers market.

Buy the best bike you can afford. Fast riders are fast on anything. My first (of not many) national race I was 10 or 15 seconds down on the fastest hardtail. But that's that not the point. If you buy an uber specific DH bike you might find it a pain for general riding. I had Big Hit with Super T's that I rode absolutely everywhere for several years, big tires, double ring and I could climb stuff the weight weenies couldn't because of the grip. All I had to do was put a chain device on, and voila, DH bike!

Save up as much as you can, then look for something with decent parts and looked after. Anything by the big brands will do it.There are plenty of bikes on trademe bought by weekend warriors who simply don't get to ride them, then sold for a reasonable loss.